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Original · left

Epoch (era)

A notable historical era or geological division of planetary time.

First in use: the 1600s
Duplicate · right

Epoch (machine learning)

One complete single pass of an entire training dataset through a machine learning model.

First in use: the 1980s

Epoch / Epoch (era) / Epoch (machine learning)

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Geologic time vs. one pass over the training set.

Which meaning of Epoch is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Epoch (era) came first (the 1600s). Epoch (machine learning) arrived in the 1980s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Epoch (era)Epoch (machine learning)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1600s

Epoch (era)

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Duplicate · the 1980s

Epoch (machine learning)

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More duplicated terms

AI & machine learning